2019-10-21 - The Psycho You Know

It was a brief, curt text from Alexander. Basically just that he might have some information on the case, and perhaps she'd be willing to meet him at the docks at a certain time. It is now that certain time, with the sun sinking with a glorious crimson gaudiness over the water. Since it's drizzling, just a little, there aren't a lot of townies or tourists taking in the sight - just a couple of old men with broad brimmed hats who are fishing off one side of the dock, and houseboat owners going to their homes. Alexander is here, though, sitting at the far end, legs danging, looking out at the dark shape of the not-yet-open casino. He's a hunched shape in a too-large sweater and jeans, his expression slack and almost plastic as he thinks.

Despite the curtness of the text there was an agreement to meet with Alexander, and soon Charlie arrives, a baseball hat tugged down on her head, and her members only jacket worn against the chill and wet in the air. She checks her phone once, then proceeds to head down the docks, glancing around until she spots Alexander, starting to head in his direction, "Hey, Mister Clayton."

"Detective Morgan," Alexander says, in return. Human emotion returns to his face and he smiles faintly as he tilts his head to one side and looks up at her. "Sit. Join me." Although it's sort of order-like, his voice is warm and pleasant, pitched to a conversational volume. "How are you doing? No flu?"

"No flu, although Detective Quintanilla has come down with something." Charlie replies as she moves to the spot next to him, lowering herself down with a quick smile, "I'd suggest it was his eating habits, but there are others that eat crap too, and some of them have avoided getting sick."

Alexander winces. "I am sorry to hear that. It's a nasty thing. And there's nothing wrong with eating junk. It's just the donuts that get you," he adds, and there's just the faintest hint of a teasing lilt in his voice. "I...have run across some information which might be useful in your investigation, but I fear that it also isn't the most reliable, so it's not a smoking gun." He turns his head to study her. "I thought you might be interested."

"I never eat donuts. I always feel like a nap after them." Which there is a mild bit of disappointment at that, "Plus all that sugar." Neither of which actually has anything to do with what the important parts to things are. "Smoking gun or not, I'm willing to look into any information that you might have found, Mister Clayton."

"There's nothing wrong with sugar. Don't you have a child? I would think you exist on sugar, caffeine, and the vague hope that she reaches the age of majority more quickly than most." Another twinkle of amusement in Alexander's dark eyes. But he nods at the answer. "Thought you might say so. I found a witness who says that he saw the shooter on the day of the murder. Go in and out of the motel, get into his car, drive away - but not far. He abandoned the car, and got into another vehicle. This one was a white company car for 'Bulldog Security'. The logo is, unsurprisingly, a dog with its teeth bared." A pause. "I happened to notice that one of the security cameras of Bayside Apartments points in that direction, so I asked Byron Thorne to let me take a look at the footage from that morning. Unfortunately, although the vehicle was able to be confirmed, not the shooter being associated with it."

"I survive off caffeine and two hours of sleep a day, and one day...I shall have a whole four hours of sleep." Charlie replies with an amused laugh that trails off when he starts to describe to her what he found out, her brows lifting upwards before she reaches into the pocket of her jacket, "No shit?" She laughs, shaking her head, "Still, it's one step closer at the very least." She flips opn her little notebook, starting to write down the information he's providing, "I don't suppose you were able to con him into giving you a copy of the tape?"

"That will be a good day," Alexander says, solemnly. "I hope it comes swiftly." He doesn't laugh with her, but the smile warms his eyes for a moment. "And no shit. I didn't con him, though. I just asked. So, yes. I can give you a copy." He reaches into his pocket, brings out a shiny new thumbdrive and hands it over. "If you need original source, for chain of evidence, talk to Thorne's head of security. He should know to expect you." A grimace. "I'm not familiar with the company, and I'm disappointed that I couldn't find footage of the actual shooter getting into the car, but."

"Brilliant." Charlie offers as she takes the thumb drive, then she tucks it into a pocket of her jacket, patting it protectively. "I'll look it over soon, but the fact is, just the name, and the possibility of getting our hands on that car is a big step closer to the actual shooter. So I appreciate you finding this."

There's a pleased smile when Charlie shares her appreciation, although a certain wary quality to it, as well. Like a dog used to getting kicked who suddenly got tossed a treat - it's great, but can you trust it? He wets his lips with a flick of his tongue and ducks his head, turning his attention towards the casino. "If it's the same security company as the casino, that could be useful." A long pause. "Isabella Reede was asking around the environmental groups, trying to see if she could figure out what interest the Krugers would even have against the casino. According to her, she was told that the testimony they were going to give wasn't environmental, but rather around something that they saw during the construction of the casino."

"Yeah, we've reached that point, too. Gabe and me, at least." Charlie replies with a nod, "In fact, none of the environmental stuff was environmental...the man that brought the original lawsuit was doing it because of a grudge that evidently goes all the way back to high school. Which is when I started questioning if they were going to provide testimony about something else." She tilts her head backwards, thinking about it before she nods, "And sloppy on Foster's part if it is the same company. But it's certainly adding up, for me. I just need to make sure that is where the evidence leads."

"It would be," sloppy, Alexander means, inclining his head to Charlie. "And so far, that's the one thing the killer and whoever's behind the murder haven't been. But we'll see. Sometimes smart people are incredibly stupid when they think they've got the upper hand." He rolls his shoulders in a shrug. "Any chance you've been able to get eyes inside the casino? Take a look around?" And he rolls his eyes at the mention of Pursley's juvenile motives. "Idiot." A pause. "But. Have you seen Sea View Suites, Detective Morgan? It doesn't have a view."

"I haven't, on either of those accounts. You think I should drop by and figure out what and where they might have been seeing something?" Charlie wonders, flipping her notebook closed before sliding it into a pocket, "I'm pretty convinced that this isn't about a casino....especially after a conversation with someone else earlier. It's all wrapped up in some other shit, I think." She's not saying it, but he can totally feel what she means. Crime.

Alexander shakes his head. "No. I mean. Yes, you should certainly take a look at the scene of the crime." In fact, he gives her a side eye when she confesses she hasn't. "But that's not what I mean. I mean - it doesn't have a view. It's back from the shore and there's shit in the way. Having the casino out there doesn't ruin the view of any of the rooms. And it's a conveniently placed hotel to the casino." He leaves that there for a moment, then shrugs. "Of course it is. Casinos and organized crime go hand in hand. Casinos on the water? Can be a good hub for smuggling, drug distribution, prostitution, human trafficking, so on and so forth."

"Side-eye me all you want, I wasn't the one that originally caught the case." Charlie gives him a crooked smile in return to the side-eye, but she nods, "Intersting, and yeah. Drugs, smuggling, human trafficking...all kinds of possible things. I still wonder what they saw that they were going to testify about....if they actually saw anything at all and weren't put up to perjury and that got them killed."

"If it was perjury, there was no need to kill them," Alexander points out, quietly. "You just discredit them. With some of the stuff that goes on in the Sea View, that wouldn't be hard. And Karl had a stroke; not hard at all to find a doctor willing to argue diminished capacity to the court, and then throw doubt on the wife for having to struggle with stress, burnout, etc." He rolls his shoulders. "That said, I'm not saying that maybe someone didn't encourage them to come forward, with the intent of seeing if someone would retaliate, and what that might look like." A pause. "But I can't prove that. Don't even have any evidence that points that way. It just bothers me. The Krugers stood to gain, financially, by a casino."

Charlie makes a very quiet sound that might be agreement, might not. "Technically, maybe. If other factors weren't in play, but I don't have hard proof yet." Plus she shouldn't really discuss open cases. "But I think that the casino moving in, doing that kind of business, was a lot more of a problem than a boon, in the end."

Alexander snorts with amusement. "Yes. Other factors. To be sure." He does look a bit exasperated at the evasiveness, but he doesn't jump all in to spill all the case's details in what's technically a public place, even if there doesn't seem to be anyone in hearing distance. "Ah. A side note, which you may already know: The letter you received was sent by a very bored receptionist. Not Stewart."

"Was it? Which bored receptionist was so helpful to send that little piece of information?" She shakes her head faintly, smirking a moment before she glances around, checking to make sure the gentlement are further away, "So, it seems the Kruger's were in deep with Monaghan, I'm guessing, laundering money for him. So having another man of questionable morals so close to the motel probably was a huge problem."

Alexander shrugs. "Don't know. She wasn't thinking about her boss at the time. Possibly one of the lawyers? But I couldn't swear to that." And if he's talking about what she was 'thinking', probably no way he could prove that in any court-approved way, either. There's a brief nod to Charlie. "Likely. From the start, I've thought this might be a move by an outside group to try and muscle in on Gray Harbor. The casino would make a good jumping off point for that. If it goes live, it'll bring in unfamiliar faces, give someone leverage to start bribing people Monaghan has bribed, and so forth."

"Possibly with more money and backing than Monaghan, too. Foster's already got a casino out on the rez it seems, and that business seems to be operating out there at full steam. So depending on how large that haul is, he might stand a really good chance of uprooting Monaghan. Which, this is going to sound crazy...but I'd rather the psycho we know than a new one." Charlie points out with a shake of her head, "Either way, it's a lot deeper than a random robbery or even witness tampering."

Alexander makes a low, thoughtful sound. "No, I'd agree. If I could figure out how to actually bring Monaghan down, I'd do it in a hot minute. But in a turf war, a lot of people die. Innocent people. People like the Krugers, who - while not exactly innocent - did not deserve to take bullets to the head because two corrupt, greedy men only see moves and counter-moves, and not human beings with lives, loved ones, and dreams." He takes a breath, his words having grown rapid as he spoke. "So, no, I'd prefer to push the invader out before he gets enough of a foothold to warrant serious retaliation."

"Agreed." Charlie replies with a nod, letting her attention slide out towards the water, studying the horizon for a little while, "I'm going to bring Foster down, even if he's not the one that put out the hit, because you're right. A turf war isn't something we need right now." She starts to get to her feet, a hand moving to pat her pocket, "Which, on that note I should get this in so we can start to find these assholes. Seriously, thanks again for finding this."

Alexander smiles, brief but warm. "I admire the dedication. And the agreement." When she starts to get to her feet, so does he. "Not a problem, Detective. This is an interesting case. It's fun." His eyes turn out towards the casino again. "Would you let me know if your efforts to gain entrance to the casino don't go well?" And there's a way that he says it that just sort of highlights the fact that Alexander Clayton is not a cop, and while certain laws like 'trespassing' and 'breaking and entering' might technically apply to him, they're really more suggestions, if you look at it in a certain way.

"If we can't get in, I might happen to accidentally mention something in a moment of frustration." Charlie agrees with a laugh, nodding to him before she starts to move back along the dock, "You hear anything else, just let me know. If I happen to run into any walls, I'll let you know, too."

"Thanks. Next time, we can even meet somewhere with a roof," Alexander adds, as the rain starts up again as a slow drizzle. Not that he should be able to complain, since he chose the meeting place. "Don't die, Detective Morgan." Then he starts wandering away, ambling over towards one of the houseboats.